Oct 9th Disney Parks change policy for ALL to wait in line

Remember the heated debate we had a few months ago about the 1%er moms in NYC hiring disabled people to help their family jump waiting in lines?

Disney issued the new policy that effective October 9...everyone waits in line:
http://shine.yahoo.com/parenting/disney-world-s-message-to-the-disabled--wait-in-line-161946185.html

Hmmm. Not sure how this is going to work. My Dad was disabled and in a wheelchair and we did Disney a lot growing up, living close to it. While it had it's advantages obviously, a vast number of the lines are just not wheelchair accessible so there has to be a separate entrance. So for Disney to spend what would I'd imagine to be an absolute fortune to reconstruct their rides by October 9th just so a few Assholes don't abuse the system doesn't really seem fair to me.

I can only imagine that the answer will be: Have family members who are not disabled wait in the line and when they are ready to board the ride vehicle we will board the disabled family member, who entered via the handicapped entrance, with them. This does not require any change to the existing attractions.

That would never work. Disney can't be known as the place where disabled patrons have to go and wait all by themselves while the rest of their family is together in line.

This sounds fine. They are not ignoring the disabled nor are they doing away with all policies and easy entrances.

If you read what they're saying, they are issuing "fast passes" for the disabled. They don't have to wait in line. They can wait somewhere else (in chairs, inside, in cool, comfortable areas) until it's their turn to ride the ride. And I'm sure they can use a handicapped entrance to get on when they need to. It just isn't an "instant access" to the ride, like it used to be.

I think that's fair to everyone. Yes, It's unfortunate that we live in a world full of people always looking for ways to cut in line. And it's also unfortunate that Disney allows 7 billion people to roam their amusement parks each day, especially the people with SUV-like strollers with kids too young to know where they are. They are essentially roadblocks on wheels.

Not the way it used to be. If you look at older videos of Disneyland, there are very few babies in strollers. Parents didn't used to take kids to places like this until they were old enough to appreciate it (and old enough to walk on their own). At least five and up. But people don't do that anymore.

So the rules have to change.

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Updated On: 9/23/13 at 02:16 PM

Mm, not sure how I feel about this, we'll see how it ends up working out. The thing with people who are disabled is that usually it comes with a lot more than simply not being able to walk; my father is paraplegic and he suffers from high blood pressure, he gets panic attacks, and has a schedule where he needs to be changed every so often. Obviously I can't be objective at all about this, and there is a side of me that just feels that someone in that condition deserves a break of some sort; I guess the counterargument is that if you are in such a bad condition you shouldn't even put yourself through the experience of a theme park, so I see both sides. I imagine this is one of those where people who are actually personally affected will care more than those who can see it more objectively.

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"If you read what they're saying, they are issuing "fast passes" for the disabled. They don't have to wait in line. They can wait somewhere else (in chairs, inside, in cool, comfortable areas) until it's their turn to ride the ride. And I'm sure they can use a handicapped entrance to get on when they need to. It just isn't an "instant access" to the ride, like it used to be."

BINGO!

They will only have to wait in a fast pass style of line, or, in other words, the handicapped entrance.

I never understood why they didn't always do it this way, or have the handicapped person wait in the handicapped line until their party reaches the front of the line and then they join them.

It should never have been a pass to jump the line.

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The comments on that article calling this discrimination are a little ridiculous. This is technically removing the discrimination by treating them like everyone else. As adamgreer explained, their actual needs are being provided for with this new system. They just don't get to jump to the front of the line with 8 of their closest relatives anymore, which is not in any way necessary to accommodate disabilities.

This is Disney World. They've done scientific studies about the exact PMS shade of green people will visually ignore, and how far to space apart trash cans to minimize litter. I sincerely, deeply doubt there wasn't an extensive study of their parks and the people utilizing this policy on a daily basis before they made a decision like this. Which basically means it's far more common than just the Manhattan mom story in the Post.

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Creating access for the handicapped means accessible accommodation that is equal to non-handicapped people, it shouldn't mean preferential treatment.

If they have to wait in line to get on a ride, they can join the club. Nobody likes to do that. Nobody is comfortable with that, and nobody enjoys that.

That's equality.

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Updated On: 9/23/13 at 09:49 PM

But... people with disabilities AREN'T equal. And providing access is just a small part of accommodating a guest with a disability.

I can't be fully objective about this, and I hate that people without disabilities abuse the system, ruining it for those who are truly deserving of this small 'kindness' of moving to the head of the line during their visit to a Disney park.

I'd gladly wait in line a while longer so those who don't enjoy the ability to function in life the way I can are given a little bit of special treatment in the 'happiest place on earth'...

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But they won't be waiting any longer.

They will be waiting the same amount of time they would have waited in the Stan-By line as before. They just have to show up at their scheduled time and then have short wait in the stand-by line.

They just wont be able to bring a hoard of people with them, and immediately cut in front of everyone.

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And as someone who used to work there and still visits on a regular basis, it's a shame that everyone seems to have taken advantage of it.

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It started out by just giving easier access for handicapped people, since most of the queue lines were never designed for people with disabilities. It was usually easier to take them through the exit.

It’s very kind of you to want to offer to wait longer, but the fact is that people have paid huge amounts of money to get into the park, and for some of them it’s a once in a life time experience, and asking them to wait longer in lines, while entire families with a disabled person to cut in front of them is basically what upsets people.

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